The Papers consist of three major groups of materials: a collection of miscellaneous correspondence arranged in one chronological sequence; a mass of miscellaneous papers, accumulated by various persons, classified roughly according to subject, arranged chronologically within each subject; and 25 volumes of account books and letter books kept by Prairie du Chien traders.
The CORRESPONDENCE to about 1830 is preponderantly that of the Porlier and Lawe families. Among that of the former are family letters, especially between Jacques Porlier and his son, Joseph Jacques Porlier, and to the latter's wife who was a member of the Grignon family; a number of letters from William Dickson, 1819-1821, written from Mackinac and from the Red River; letters from Joseph Brisbois of Prairie du Chien; letters from Louis Rouse, trader on the Fox River for the Porliers; and from Alexis Bailly at Mackinac. The Lawe papers include many drafts of letters by John Lawe; letters he received from his uncle and predecessor in the Green Bay trade, Jacob Franks of Montreal; correspondence with Lawe's daughter Rachael and his son George W.; some letters from Stanislaus Chappu and George Surwick, traders at Oconto and Pensaukee for the Lawes; many letters from Michael Dousman of Mackinac concerning the fur trade; and occasional letters from Robert Stuart, Ramsay Crooks, Gabriel Franchere, and William Brewster concerning Lawe's connections with the American Fur Company operations. From 1836 to 1846 there is a series of letters from Andrew J. Vieau of Milwaukee, Rebecca L. Lawe's husband; and a number of letters dated 1837 and 1838 from Robert M. Eberts who, in partnership with Lawe, was promoting the operation of a saw and grist mill at Two Rivers.
About a dozen letters from Wilson P. Hunt of St. Louis to Samuel Abbott of Mackinac, mostly for the years 1825 to 1827, discuss mainly the settlement of the Nicolas Boilvin estate and the care of his children. There is a group of letters addressed to Amable Grignon in the Athabasca region about 1820 and later at his various trading places in Wisconsin. There are about a half dozen letters addressed to George Boyd, mainly from 1829 to 1833; and a small number to James Duane Doty, 1830-1831. A number of letters from Richard F. Cadle found in this correspondence have been printed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, as have many of the letters on the fur trade.
A large part of the correspondence dating from the years 1829 to 1839 is that of Peter Bernard Grignon. Included are papers dealing with his duties as clerk of the court; as contractor for the Chicago to Green Bay mail, 1836 to 1838, including sundry letters from settlers along the route; plans with Morgan L. Martin for establishing a mill on the upper Wisconsin; family correspondence; and miscellaneous material.
A collection of letters to Hercules L. Dousman of Prairie du Chien forms a considerable part of the CORRESPONDENCE from 1845 to 1855. Among them are a number of business letters from Pierre Chouteau and Company of St. Louis; letters from Nelson Dewey of Lancaster, concerning mainly routine matters connected with Dousman's land holdings; a number of letters in the 1850s from the B.H. Campbell Company of Galena; occasional letters throughout the decade from George W. Jones of Dubuque on politics and business; from Samuel Crawford of Mineral Point, largely on legal matters; and a half dozen from John H. Kinzie of Chicago in 1854 and 1855. There are about thirty-five very informative letters from Henry M. Rice of St. Paul discussing the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indian removal, Sioux (Dakota) treaties, Minnesota politics, his associates, and his own business and personal affairs.
Letters received by Morgan L. Martin date from 1829. They form the bulk of the CORRESPONDENCE from 1835 onward. The letters deal with Martin's legal affairs and his interests in land investments, including the development of a number of village sites in eastern Wisconsin. Included are letters from prospective land purchasers as well as from Martin's agents in charge of his property; correspondence concerning Indian claims and annuity payments; letters on affairs in Wisconsin during Martin's terms as a member of Michigan and Wisconsin territorial legislature, 1831 to 1835 and 1838-1844; and letters received by him as a delegate to Congress, 1845-1847, including requests for appointments to office, elections, organization of counties, building of roads, establishment of banks, and the Michigan-Ohio boundary dispute.
There are a number of letters among the Martin correspondence concerning the sale of Milwaukee lots and matters connected with the village's early economic and political growth. Correspondents include Solomon Juneau and other members of the Juneau family, Louis Franchere, Joshua Hathaway, Hans Crocker, William N. Gardner, Byron Kilbourn, George O. Tiffany, Alexander Mitchell, A.W. Stow, and Thomas Ogden. A small number of letters, from 1847 to 1850, deal with the
development of the village of Appleton and the founding of Lawrence College. About a half dozen from George J. Wallace from 1850 to 1851 tell of his California gold-seeking experiences. For the decade of the fifties there are many letters concerning the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company, written by persons connected with the project in some way or another, including investors, prospective purchasers of lands, employees or agents of purchasers. Among the correspondents are Otto Tank of Green Bay, Horatio and John Seymour of Utica, Charles H. and William Green of New York and Chicago, Erastus Corning of Washington, David M. Loy of De Pere, and Charles Tullar of Kaukauna. Letters from members of the Martin family in the East, dealing with both family and business affairs, are throughout the collection. A great many letters deal with Democratic party politics, particularly in 1848 and other election years, including letters from James A. Noonan of Milwaukee, John Catlin of Madison, C. Latham Sholes of Kenosha, and Benjamin H. Mooers of Grafton.
ACCOUNTS AND BUSINESS PAPERS cover the years 1774-1895, but over half date from 1820 to 1840. These materials consist largely of accounts recorded on slips of paper of varying sizes and degrees of legibility and identity. These are mostly the records of traders of the Grignon, Lawe, and Porlier families, being principally invoices of goods for the Indian trade and for private use. There are also a few inventories, lists of furs, records of settlement of estates, receipts, promissory notes, and statements.
HERCULES M. DOUSMAN: ACCOUNTS AND BUSINESS PAPERS comprise two volumes dating 1827-1859. These consist of statements of Dousman's financial accounts with the American Fur Company, with subsidiary outfits, with associates in the trade, and with Indians; claims presented at Indian annuity payments; and a few private accounts.
FOX-WISCONSIN IMPROVEMENT COMPANY: BUSINESS PAPERS date 1829-1877 and fill 6 volumes. This is a collection of papers concerning the project to develop the Fox-Wisconsin waterway, mainly from the papers of Morgan L. Martin. This series includes minutes of meetings and additional data on the Portage Canal Company, as well as many bills, memorials, lists of subscribers, some correspondence, reports on progress, bids, specifications, payrolls, toll receipts, and other papers of the incorporated improvement company.
INDIAN AFFAIRS materials date from 1813 to 1877 and are bound into nine volumes. This is a great miscellany of papers produced or acquired by Morgan L. Martin, Henry S. Baird, George Boyd, George W. Lawe, Albert G. Ellis, and others in their capacities as agents or sub-agents for the Indian department or as attorneys in cases involving Indians. The collection consists of such material as statements of accounts with the government, memoranda on law suits, petitions, memorials, claims, minutes of council meetings, censuses, records of disbursements, and correspondence. Materials concern the Menomonee, Stockbridge, Oneida, and Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians.
Three volumes of MILITARY AFFAIRS materials cover the years 1816 to 1864. In these volumes are bound a small number of inspection returns of the troops at Forts Howard and Mackinac, 1816-1820; a census of the garrison at Fort
Winnebago, 1830; provision returns for volunteer troops in the Black Hawk War; claims for pensions; and a great quantity of cancelled checks, issued and returned to Morgan L. Martin in 1864 as paymaster in the army.
Four volumes of LAND CONVEYANCES, 1820-1886, contain papers relating to land settlement and land transfers in eastern Wisconsin. Among them are references to the opening and development of a number of villages, among which are Navarino (later part of Green Bay), Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, and Butte des Morts. There are many deeds and land warrants, a few lists of lands entered, a few plats, and miscellaneous data.
A collection of legal papers, AGREEMENTS, CONTRACTS, ENGAGEMENTS, 1817-1865, consists mainly of engagements for employees in the fur trade; there are also contracts or agreements entered into for a variety of purposes, including apprenticeships, trading associations, erection of buildings, teaching school, building roads, and printing. Most of the documents center around Green Bay, but a few are from the papers of Hercules L. Dousman of Prairie du Chien.
One volume of BONDS AND CHATTEL CONVEYANCES cover the years 1815-1865. In this volume are bound a number of bonds entered into for the prosecution of the fur trade, for serving as government officials, for the operation of ferries, for running taverns, for the incorporation of banks, for the settlement of estates, and for loans; there are also a small number of mortgages and leases.
One volumes of DEPOSITIONS, WRITS, ETC. date from 1822-1878. This is mainly a collection of legal documents preserved in the office of Peter Bernard Grignon as clerk of court for Brown County, Wisconsin Territory. There are also a few warrants and other legal papers from the offices of the attorneys Martin and Baird.
One volume labeled COMMISSIONS, APPOINTMENTS, WILLS, ETC., 1821-1865, is a miscellany of commissions, records of admission to the bar, naturalization certificates, guardianship papers, wills, and appointments to various positions.
LICENSES AND LEGAL FEES, 1823-1854, are contained in one volume. This is a collection of licenses to trade with the Indians, often printed forms filled in with the names of the traders; there are also licences to operate grocery stores, taverns, and ferries, and licenses to marry; and a number of bills and receipts for jurors' fees, attorneys' fees, and fees of the clerk of the court, secured in large part from the files of Peter Bernard Grignon.
The three volumes labeled LEGAL PROCEDURES are a collection of papers exceedingly miscellaneous in nature, dealing with legal cases and arranged alphabetically by the titles of the cases. The papers are mainly from the records of Martin and Baird, but there are also a few from the papers of Hercules L. Dousman, including some records of the settlement of the Joseph Rolette estate in 1849.
One volume titled ELECTIONS, LEGISLATION AND LOCAL AFFAIRS, 1829-1874, contains papers immediately or remotely connected with elections to public office or to semi-public organizations, including notices of election, certificates of election, poll lists, records of counts, and lists of candidates; also such miscellaneous items as proclamations, reports of committees, local ordinances, tax lists, and some records of the vestry of the Episcopal Church of Green Bay.
PETITIONS, SPEECHES, LETTERS, MEETINGS, 1825-1874, is the title of one volume of materials exceedingly miscellaneous in character. There are petitions to Congress and to the territorial legislatures on a great variety of subjects, reports of local committees, records of semi-public organizations, circular letters, subscription lists, prospectuses of newspapers, and letters to newspapers. Included in this volume are a number of printed broadsides, prospectuses, circular letters, and notices.
One volume concerns MASONIC AFFAIRS, 1824-1857. Here are a number of applications for membership; notices of meetings; bills of the Menominee Lodge of Green Bay, 1824 to 1826; and a collection of correspondence of Henry S. Baird, created during his tenure asnumber of applications for membership; notices of meetings; bills of the Menominee Lodge of Green Bay, 1824 to 1826; and a collection of correspondence of Henry S. Baird, created during his tenure as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin for 1856 and 1857.
One volume titled MISCELLANEOUS MEMORANDA contains a large mass of undated and unidentified materials, including a number of drafts of letters in the handwriting of Louis B. Porlier.
The last series in the collection is titled FUR TRADE RECORDS, PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, 1829-1863. These are volumes of records of the American Fur Company's post at Prairie du Chien managed by Hercules L. Dousman. These materials consist of 21 volumes of account books with records of sales at the local store; sales to trading outfits on the upper Mississippi and Fort Atkinson in Iowa; sales to individual Indians; invoices and inventories; and two letter books kept by Hercules L. Dousman, 1850-1863. There is also a volume of accounts kept by Charles Brisbois for the Hudson's Bay Fur Company on the Mackenzie River, 1829-1831.
A CALENDAR of volumes 1-15 consists of short descriptions of each item, handwritten on slips of paper. This calendar was prepared by Mabel C. Weeks in the years 1910-1911.
